AVC: That's something that you guys are hailed for, even now. Even when you were doing music videos in the '80s, you were never rolling around in lingerie.

AW: Yeah, well, it’s been a battle all along. For every time that we didn't wear lingerie, there have been 20 people who have told us, "Hey, you should just wear this lingerie, you’ll get a lot farther." Nothing against lingerie, it's gorgeous and it's very erotic.

Brevity isn't exactly Helprin's trademark; much like his 1983 novel, Winter's Tale, his newest work is an intimidating 700 pages. "I don't really even think about it," he said. "When you're young it seems impossible to write at length. As you get older it seems impossible to write not at length." Given that he published Winter’s Tale nearly three decades ago, it seems simpler and more accurate to conclude that Helprin writes long.